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County Employment and Wages in Iowa – Second Quarter 2014

The five largest counties in Iowa reported employment growth from June 2013 to June 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (Large counties are defined as those with employment of 75,000 or more as measured by 2013 annual average employment.) Polk County had the largest increase, up 3.0 percent, followed by Linn and Scott Counties, each up 1.2 percent. Regional Commissioner Charlene Peiffer noted that only Polk County experienced an over-the-year employment gain greater than the national increase of 2.0 percent. (See table 1.)

Among the five largest counties in Iowa, employment was highest in Polk County (290,300) in June 2014. Collectively, Iowa’s five large counties accounted for 43.2 percent of total employment within the state. Nationwide, the 339 largest counties made up 71.8 percent of total U.S. employment, which stood at 137.8 million in June 2014.

The average weekly wage in Johnson County rose 3.3 percent from the second quarter of 2013 to the second quarter of 2014, the largest increase among Iowa’s large counties. Polk County had the highest average weekly wage in the state at $920, followed by Linn ($894) and Johnson ($874) Counties. (See table 1.) Nationally, the average weekly wage rose 2.1 percent over the year to $940 in the second quarter of 2014.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 94 counties in Iowa with employment below 75,000. All of these smaller counties had average weekly wages below the national average. (See table 2.)

Large county wage changes

Three of Iowa’s large counties recorded wage growth above the national increase of 2.1 percent from the second quarter of 2013 to the second quarter of 2014. (See table 1.) As noted, Johnson County experienced the state’s largest average weekly wage increase of 3.3 percent, ranking 41st among the 339 largest U.S. counties. This was followed by Black Hawk County (2.8 percent) and Polk County (2.4 percent), which ranked 79th and 104th, respectively, nationwide.

Among the 339 largest counties in the U.S., 312 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages in the second quarter of 2014. Midland, Texas, had the largest wage increase (9.0 percent). Twenty-two large counties experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly wages, of which Williamson, Texas, had the largest decrease (-2.7 percent).

Large county average weekly wages

Average weekly wages in all five large Iowa counties were below the national average of $940 in the second quarter of 2014. As noted, Polk County ($920) had the highest average weekly wage in the state and ranked 125th among the 339 largest counties in the nation. Scott County ($766) reported the lowest average weekly wage of Iowa’s large counties and ranked 280th nationwide.

Nationally, Santa Clara, Calif., held the top position among the 339 large counties with an average weekly wage of $1,886. San Mateo, Calif., was second at $1,740, followed by New York, N.Y. ($1,732) and San Francisco, Calif. ($1,593).

Average weekly wages in Iowa’s smaller counties

All 94 counties in Iowa with employment below 75,000 had average weekly wages below the national average of $940. Among these smaller counties, Dallas County had the highest average weekly wage at $895 and Decatur County had the lowest at $529. (See table 2.)

When all 99 counties in Iowa were considered, none had wages above the national average. Six reported average weekly wages of $599 or less, 31 reported wages from $600 to $649, 31 had wages from $650 to $699, and 31 had wages of $700 or more. (See chart 1.)

Additional statistics and other information

QCEW data for states have been included in this release in table 3. For additional information about quarterly employment and wages data, please read the Technical Note or visit www.bls.gov/cew.

Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online features comprehensive information by detailed industry on establishments, employment, and wages for the nation and all states. The 2013 edition of this publication contains selected data produced by Business Employment Dynamics (BED) on job gains and losses, as well as selected data from the first quarter 2014 version of the national news release. Tables and additional content from Employment and Wages Annual Averages 2013 are now available online at www.bls.gov/cew/cewbultn13.htm. The 2014 edition of Employment and Wages Annual Averages Online will be available in September 2015.

The County Employment and Wages release for third quarter 2014 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, March 19, 2015, at 9:00 a.m. (CT).

Technical Note

Average weekly wage data by county are compiled under the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, also known as the ES-202 program. The data are derived from summaries of employment and total pay of workers covered by state and federal unemployment insurance (UI) legislation and provided by State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). The 9.4 million employer reports cover 137.8 million full- and part-time workers. The average weekly wage values are calculated by dividing quarterly total wages by the average of the three monthly employment levels of those covered by UI programs. The result is then divided by 13, the number of weeks in a quarter. It is to be noted, therefore, that over-the-year wage changes for geographic areas may reflect shifts in the composition of employment by industry, occupation, and such other factors as hours of work. Thus, wages may vary among counties, metropolitan areas, or states for reasons other than changes in the average wage level. Data for all states, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), counties, and the nation are available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cew; however, data in QCEW press releases have been revised and may not match the data contained on the Bureau’s Web site.

QCEW data are not designed as a time series. QCEW data are simply the sums of individual establishment records reflecting the number of establishments that exist in a county or industry at a point in time. Establishments can move in or out of a county or industry for a number of reasons—some reflecting economic events, others reflecting administrative changes.

The preliminary QCEW data presented in this release may differ from data released by the individual states as well as from the data presented on the BLS Web site. These potential differences result from the states’ continuing receipt, review and editing of UI data over time. On the other hand, differences between data in this release and the data found on the BLS Web site are the result of adjustments made to improve over-the-year comparisons. Specifically, these adjustments account for administrative (noneconomic) changes such as a correction to a previously reported location or industry classification. Adjusting for these administrative changes allows users to more accurately assess changes of an economic nature (such as a firm moving from one county to another or changing its primary economic activity) over a 12-month period. Currently, adjusted data are available only from BLS press releases.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

Table 1. Covered employment and wages in the United States and the 5 largest counties in Iowa, second quarter 2014

Footnotes:(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.(2) Percent changes were computed from quarterly employment and pay data adjusted for noneconomic county reclassifications.(3) Ranking does not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.(4) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.

Footnotes:(1) Average weekly wages were calculated using unrounded data.(2) Totals for the United States do not include data for Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands.(3) Data not included in the national ranking.